Silver Wind
by SlytherinFlame
Summary: The group of Hoenn coordinators, Solidad, Harley, Drew, and May are headed out to Kanto for sight-seeing. May has strong feelings about everyone in the group. Will they make it through the region without murdering one another? Contestshipping. May/Drew.
1. Prologue

"What? Are you _PMS-ing_ or something?" Harley chided me.

Anger flowed through me and I retorted, "I'd rather have periods than wet dreams, Harley."

Surprisingly enough, Harley merely smiled and said, "Funny May. Very clever."

So much had changed in the past few days. I left my brother to go off to Kanto. I did not go back to Ash and Brock. I started traveling with Drew and Solidad...and Harley.

There was something about Harley, maybe his stance, maybe the way he spoke, so pompously that I couldn't stand it. Everything he did seemed to tick me off, even to the point where I'd explode at Solidad or Drew because of it. I just couldn't help it.

"I don't like him much either," Drew once confided in me. That gave me some confidence, some alliance.

It wasn't that I didn't like traveling with my group of coordinators. Drew was something like my best friend. He was my age. He was easy to mess with, but he was still charismatic. Not that he didn't manage to tick me off as well, just not quite s much as Harley. Usually, Drew is quite nice to me.

Solidad was like a second mother. She always told Harley, Drew, and me off for arguing, which seemed like an incessant thing. She was kind-hearted though, and definitely meant well, however, seeing as she's the best coordinator out of all of us, it's easy to get right jealous.

So that's our little dysfunctional group: Harley, Drew, Solidad, and me. Funnily enough, we weren't always dysfunctional. Between the four of us, we had won a fair amount of ribbons and trophies. When none of us was pissed off, we got along as siblings do. I liked those days, but they weren't always typical.

No, a typical morning went more like this:

Solidad would make us all a nice little breakfast of ham and cheese omelets and toast, but she would forget that Harley's a vegetarian so Harley would get upset. Solidad would then try to make it better by making him a new plain omelet but then he'd complain about eggs hurting chicken's insides, so Solidad would give up in a huff and Drew and I would snicker into our forks.

Harley would then reprimand us for taking part in the strangulation of chickens and we'd just merely nod and smile like we knew what he was talking about, except that Drew would go too far in his mocking and Harley would notice.

At that point, Harley would take a fistful of onions from next to the stove and fling them at Drew's head. He would duck and the onions would go slamming into the wall behind us. It would soon become a shower of foodstuffs, and I would struggle to make it out of the kitchen alive to alert Nurse Joy.

That's how we get kicked out of Pokemon Centers: with Solidad in near tears, Drew and Harley covered in whatever was on the menu for breakfast, and me trying my best not to roll on the floor laughing.

We weren't always so comical in everything. In fact, when we're in contests we're exactly the opposite. We're graceful, tactful, and pretty intense. Drew always put together these amazing, intricate designs in the air, but half the time they went ever so slightly wrong. Harley created mysterious acts, as if we were in Pokemon theater, but they got him by and were entertaining all the same. Solidad kept it simple, and still shockingly beautiful. The thing about her is that she never got flustered. She was seemingly always at ease when she walked up the steps to a contest.

I, on the other hand, just tried not to mess everything up. In general, I became horribly anxious when I stepped up for primaries, and botched up everything to begin with and tried to pull through at the end. After the whole thing was over and we were about to go into secondaries, Drew usually sat me down and told me I was fantastic. I was so nervous during that time that I usually blew it off, and then he got all blush-y and annoyed and kept to himself. I liked him and everything, but I could never be myself during those contests. I guess that's something I still need to work on.

Now that we're in Kanto, there are no contests. We're just sight-seeing. It was Solidad's idea to show us around, seeing as Kanto is where she's from and she's quite familiar with it.

I don't know about the rest of the group, but I really want to see Fuschia City and visit the Safari Zone. Drew wants to see Viridian City as he's thinking of challenging the Pokemon League as a joke. Harley wants to see the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town, as he likes all things creepy...probably because he is creepy. Solidad wants to check in at home in Pewter and then shop in Celadon.

I didn't know what was going to happen, and, quite frankly, I was a bit afraid to find out. Knowing our group, something both terrible and hysterically funny was just a warm-up.

I still couldn't wait. We would start our journey in Pallet Town.

I've packed up for the trip. I figured I would need extra shirts, extra socks, and extra courage. I didn't know if courage can fit in a suitcase though. That's too bad.


	2. Chapter 1

The morning went surprisingly well.

We met up with Ash and his mother, Delia, before we left. Harley did not throw a temper tantrum when he was served bacon for breakfast, which leads me to believe that he is not actually a vegetarian. Figures...

As a general rule, any morning in which my bandanna is on the right way and we're all squeaky clean is a successful morning.

Ash was pleased to see me, I think, but not so much pleased to see Drew. I'm not exactly sure why that is, and I'm not sure I really want to find out. Drew claims Ash hates him because he has mad skills, but something makes me highly doubt that.

So with that morning behind us, we set off for Viridian City. Drew was pretty excited, up until Solidad reminded him that he had to get eight gym badges before he could challenge the Pokemon League. I think his dream of challenging the champion may have vanished at that point. He never was one for patience.

The road to Viridian City was the best part of my day and it's clear why.

"Are we there yet?" Harley said as he dragged his feet along the dusty, beaten path.

"Oh would you _shut up _already?" screeched an annoyed Solidad. I was shocked that she would use such language, as she claimed all angry slurs were below her, but I guess with the current circumstances...

"Why did we ever think it was a good idea to bring you along?" Drew asked, most likely rhetorically. I don't think Harley understood the rhetorical part though.

"Because I'm an amazing coordinator and..." Harley had proclaimed, but the rest of his droning on was cut of by our loud shouts of laughter.

"What's so funny?" Harley snarled, and Drew, Solidad, and I just shot each other meaningful looks.

Eventually, we reached a small outpost in which a so-called bug master lived. He challenged us to an "ultimate match." I didn't know what an "ultimate match" was, and didn't much care to find out. Solidad must have felt the same way because she grabbed Drew and I and hightailed out of there, leaving Harley shrieking on our heels.

Every argument Drew and Harley have seems to crack me up. For example there was the "bathroom argument":

"I don't know why you take so long in the bathroom, Harley," Drew remarked.

"Yeah, well, at least I don't leave the toilet seat up," smirked Harley.

"You probably don't even put the toilet seat up when you go," said Drew, one eyebrow raised in prediction of Harley's reaction.

"I am a _boy_, much to the surprise of the rest of you!" Harley screamed, his hands thrown in the air.

People started to stare so I think that's what made Drew leave it at that.

We set up camp just outside of Viridian City. Hopefully, we won't get gored by passing Beedrill or anything like that.

It was cold, so I called out my Blaziken to keep us all warm. By this time, the other three had fallen fast asleep and I was left alone in the night.

"Blaze," Blaziken whispered, nudging my foot gently.

"What?"

Blaziken looked off into the distance. I turned around as quickly as I could, following his gaze.

A glint shone between the trees far away. It made my heart jump.

"Blaziken? Can you hear whatever's out there?"

Blaziken nodded and stepped in front of me, ears perked up in concentration.

"Is it human?" I asked, shivering.

Blaziken nodded again. "Blaze. Ken."

Blaziken implied that there was nothing to be afraid of, so I tried to get back to sleep. It was difficult, seeing as I kept seeing something white in my dreams, just beyond the trees. They were different trees. Nostalgic trees. From where, I had no idea.

I'm bound to find out sooner or later. I would keep this to myself. Perhaps I just imagined it.


	3. Chapter 2

The four of us ran down the hill to Viridian City to the beat of "We Are the Champions." That might just be because we were champions for not ripping each other's heads off yet.

Actually, I don't want to rip off anyone's head off yet. I might be the only one thoroughly enjoying myself. I don't think the same can be said for Drew and Harley though. I think I almost peed myself laughing at this morning's "Raisin Bran" argument:

"We cannot have two percent milk, guys! You know how I am about that!" roared Harley angrily.

Drew just smiled as if he didn't know what Harley was talking about.

"You can't tell me you like two percent milk little Drewie!" Harley shrieked, "Oh what is wrong with this world?"

"Sounds like someone got off on the wrong side of the bed this morning, Harley," Drew said, smiling wider, "Now, do tell me, what is wrong with two percent milk?"

Solidad and I looked at each other in anticipation. This wasn't the first time Harley had explained the sins of drinking milk that wasn't fat-free.

Harley screamed in agony, "Two percent milk in two percent fat! I can't get fat guys! How will that look on stage? I won't be able to fit in my clothes!"

Drew cut in, "And we definitely won't want you walking around naked..."

Solidad and I burst out laughing. Harley frowned, wringing his hands maniacally.

"I assure you, Rose, that I look better than you naked."

Drew choked on his spoon, "Dude, I'm eating my Raisin Bran. That's dreadful imagery."

"Let's ask the women shall we? Who is more attractive ladies?" Harley sat down alarmingly close to Solidad, but Solidad was laughing too hard to notice.

"Uh, don't drag me into this one guys," I complained, jumping up closer to Drew, "But my money's not on you."

"So it's on me?" Drew whispered in my ear from behind.

"Uh..." I put more space between myself and the two of them, "No, my money's on, um...Solidad, help me out here!"

Solidad chuckled, wiping her eyes, "My money's on Steven Stone."

"Steven Stone?" Harley exclaimed, "Ew, not him!"

"Steven Stone is pretty fine," Solidad replied, smirking.

"Guys, guys, just let me eat my Raisin Bran, okay?" grumbled Drew, returning to his cereal.

"No, don't eat that, it has two percent milk!" I screeched, in an imitation of Harley that made Drew the offending milk dribble through Drew's nose.

"That's disgusting," Harley muttered to himself, though loud enough for everyone to hear, "I can't believe I travel with you buffoons..." He went on, but we all stopped listening.

Solidad showed us around downtown Viridian later that day, and I learned both what a Teachy TV is, and that I definitely don't want one. We then saw the Viridian City Gym. Drew tried to pry open the doors, in a sad attempt to challenge his first gym, but the doors wouldn't budge and he stopped once we all started getting suspicious looks from the people in neighboring yards.

Apparently Giovanni's been out of town for quite a while now. That sucks for Drew. I guess he'll just have to wait. I think, at this point, his determination to beat the Kanto league might be unraveling ever so slowly.

That was about all the highlights of today. Tomorrow, we set off for the Viridian Forest. This should be fun, seeing as Harley's terrified of bugs, namely Wurmple and Caterpie. Solidad says the forest's bulging with them. Even she had an evil look in her eyes. I couldn't imagine what Drew was thinking of, either, mischievous boy. Poor Harley.


	4. Chapter 3

"Forest did you say?" Harley exclaimed, shaking Solidad's shoulders roughly, "_Forest?"_

"No, Harley, we're going to a high school rave," I said, rolling my eyes, "It's called Viridian Forest, you moron."

Drew gave me a fist bump for that one and I gladly accepted. Harley just stood there, thinking...if you could call it that.

Finally he spoke with a dangerous tone. "I swear, you little kiddies, that you wouldn't be anywhere without me."

"So that's why you're with us?" inquired Drew, breaking the void of seriousness ever so innocently. "Because I don't know how we'd ever survive without you!"

Solidad snorted but turned it into a cough. I fought to hold back my snickers.

"Yes, of course it is!" Harley shrieked, "Without me, you'd all be eaten by wild...I don't know, Heracross or something!"

"Oh, I hope you're not afraid of bugs, Harley. Forests tend to be full of them!" I said, waiting for a break down.

Drew joined in, "Oh, I know, right? All those Caterpie," he paused to see Harley's reaction, "and Wurmple."

Surprisingly enough, Harley just ignored us and marched on. Maybe he is getting a hold of his flamboyant temper.

We started off into the forest, Solidad leading the way. I think we got through without too much trouble.

Every time the tree branches rustled Drew would jump, Harley would let out a small scream, and Solidad would scold them for scaring her. What they didn't figure out was that I had a branch in my hand and was nudging the tree trunks and bushes, causing their fright.

**May 1. Harley 0.**

About halfway through the forest, a bug catcher offered to help us out. Solidad told him we were perfectly able to get through ourselves, thanks. Harley screeched something about us never getting out alive, and Solidad then shrugged and said that Harley was delirious. The bug catcher left, slightly dismayed.

Drew and I led the way, seeing as Solidad had to keep one hand over Harley's mouth so he wouldn't start screaming. It seemed like, with one sudden move, you'd set off a hive of beedrill, or at least that's what all the Caution Signs said.

"Why are people so scared of beedrill stings?" questioned Drew, reading one of the signs.

"It couldn't be because they hurt, now could it?" I answered sarcastically.

"Has anyone ever been stung by a beedrill?"

"Stupid people, right?"

"Good thing Solidad's got Harley under control then."

I laughed at that mainly because it was true.

Eventually, we saw the light, and I don't mean we saw the light because we died. We saw the light like at the end of a tunnel. It shone through the tall trees like heaven almighty. I was starting to get sick of the musty, woodsy smell, and constant buzzing, and this was like a miracle.

At last we were out. Harley struggled away from Solidad and fell to his knees and kissed the ground. Drew burst out laughing and Solidad screamed, "Finally!"

People were giving us funny looks, so I just kind of stood their awkwardly, and pretended I did not know these people.

We're setting up camp tonight right outside the Viridian Forest, and in the morning we're walking down the hill to Pewter City. I'd finally get a chance to say hi to Brock again.

Before I went to bed, I could see Solidad on top of the hill looking down on the lighted city.

"I'm finally going back," she said, smiling happily, "After being stuck with you guys, I'm finally going back!"


	5. Chapter 4

"Guys, guys wake up, wake up!" Solidad called from outside our tent. I've really got to say, if I could have picked a way of waking up this morning, Solidad's voice would not have been it.

Harley and Drew must have felt the same way too, since Drew just rolled over and fell back asleep, and Harley cried, "Never! You can't make me," in between snores.

Eventually, Solidad called out her Slowbro, who then psychic-ed them out of their beds and face first into the cold, rocky ground. I don't think Drew felt any pain because he just turned over and fell asleep again, but Harley got up, pulled on his green hat, and grumbled angrily to himself.

Today was the day of the climb. By that I mean the toughest challenge we will soon face. We have to carefully make our way down the rocky slope into Pewter City, without wiping out and turning our faces into a bloody mess. This sounded fun, but only because it could potentially kill Harley, and that would shut him up.

Drew one groggy step onto the steepest hill in Kanto and shifted rock so much that he went tumbling backward into Solidad who fell backwards into Harley, like a set of dominoes. At least I was smart enough to stay clear away from them.

After recovering from that accident, Solidad sped ahead like there was no tomorrow, Harley fell way back behind us, and Drew and I stayed closer together, though he was now wide-awake and slightly ahead of me.

"What are the odds that Harley's going to fall once more before we get to the bottom?" Drew asked, jokingly.

"High, very high," I replied, shortly before we heard the thud of a falling rock and a high pitched, incoherent wail.

"I called it," remarked Drew, chuckling.

"Think he's okay?" I wondered out loud, a little bit concerned.

"I hate life!" shrieked Harley, his voice slightly hoarse as if he was near-tears.

"Never mind then," I said, "If his voice box is working, then I don't care."

Drew smiled and said, "That's the last part of him I want working."

"Amen."

Solidad was waiting for us, sitting on a large rock and humming to herself. Drew jumped off the slope somewhat gracefully, but my jump was a disaster. My foot got caught in a rock so my jump became more of a nose-plant, until a pair of thin, but sturdy arms steadied me. I looked up into the face of a concerned Drew.

"Watch it May," he said, "You're not that coordinated."

My anger flared up and I snatched myself out of his arms, "Look who's talking."

Solidad cracked up and Drew threw a determined glance at me.

"You're a disgrace to the name coordinator," he said.

"Once again, look who's talking Drew!" I repeated, staring him hard in the eyes, my hands crossed across my chest.

Drew and I just stared at each other, neither one of us daring to look away, until Drew stood up straight and said, "Well, you may be a slight disgrace, but here comes the champion."

Harley had finally made it down the hill and was huffing and puffing, minuscule cuts all down his arms and face.

"Have a good time? I know I did," Solidad said, smiling sincerely.

We all looked at Harley happily. His face was red and he looked irritated, but he merely snubbed his nose at us, and walked right past towards the Pewter City Pokemon Center.

Solidad bought us all sandwiches and we sat down and chatted.

"It's been the longest time since I went up that hill," she said, taking a huge bite out of her ham and cheese sub.

"They don't have any hills like that in LaRousse," Drew said, thinking in between chews of chicken salad.

"That's because you don't walk in LaRousse," Harley snapped, eying his sandwich apprehensively, "All you do is have the robots carry you around!"

"There are no hills in Slateport are there, Harley?" Solidad asked, obviously trying to get Harley into a better mood.

"Not until you get to the slope that goes down the beach but they have stairs and stuff," said Harley, lifting the bread on his sandwich incredulously, "They gave me mayo! I hate mayo!" Harley growled, disgusted.

I cleared my throat loudly, "Uh, there aren't too many hills in Littleroot."

Harley gave me a look of utter contempt, "That's because there is nothing in Littleroot."

"Slateport isn't all that wonderful, is it Harley?" Drew said, flipping his hair, "I mean really, you don't get free food as long as you're a citizen, do you?"

"And you don't get a gym leader or museum?" Solidad added.

"Or a renowned Pokemon professor?" I finished, gulping down my cold cut.

"I need a new sandwich!" Harley cried, springing out of his seat. He must have sensed defeat.

The rest of the day was uneventful. We just talked around with other trainers and Nurse Joy. Solidad promised to take us on the full Pewter tour the next day. Drew said he was going to challenge Brock tomorrow. It would be good seeing Brock again, or at least I thought it would be, especially if he'd thrash Drew's Pokemon to the ground. Seeing Drew lose is pretty satisfying.

Before we went to bed I could hear sniffing in the next room over. Harley and Drew's room. I don't know what that was, but it sure did sound like someone was either crying or had a seriously bad cold. I really hope it's the former, not that I want to see the boys cry, I just hate being sick.

I still worry about the person in the woods. Blaziken remains restless at night. In a way, I wish the rustler would make himself (or herself!) known. I could make due with a bit of adventure apart from...these guys.


	6. Chapter 5

"You can't honestly be telling me that you won't give me a battle!" shouted Drew, his face brick red.

"I just did. _Honestly_," replied an unfazed Brock, glancing at his watch.

Drew stomped off in a fit of frustration toward where Solidad sat with Harley. At this moment, Drew's face was so comical that I almost laughed, but I knew I would feel bad about laughing later.

I'd seen Drew this frustrated only twice before. Once when Dawn beat him in a Pokemon contest last year and then I'd flattened Dawn. That was only because he hates being bested by me of course.

The other time was when Harley put itch powder in his underwear as a April Fool's Joke, and he had to get sent to the emergency room. I will admit that I wouldn't have been too happy about that either.

He trudged right past Solidad, even though she had gotten up and murmured something to him. I knew I would do a better job of comforting him, so, throwing an apologetic look to Brock, I took off down the beaten sidewalk after Drew.

He was sitting down on a boulder in a clearing of trees. His hands covered his face and he was trembling violently. Slightly nervous, I sat down next to him.

"This isn't about the battle is it?" I cooed into his ear.

He didn't move, so I just wrapped my arm around his shoulders in a comforting way. Still, he didn't respond.

"It's going to be okay Drew," I said, rocking him back and forth.

He looked up finally, a solitary silver tear running down his cheek. His expression made me want to cry as well.

I looked at him with nothing but pity.

"What's wrong, Drew?" I asked him, my voice slightly higher than normal.

"Everything!" he cried, putting his face back into his hands, "Nothing's right. This whole world is all wrong!"

"Calm down Drew. It'll all be okay," I reassured him, haphazardly.

His face shot up from his hands and he looked at me in utter disbelief.

"You just don't get it, do you May?" he said slowly, trying to keep his voice from quavering, "Stop pretending you do."

I was thrown off guard at what he said. It really hit below the belt and rendered me speechless, like he had knocked the wind out of me. This is what I get for being a good friend?

Drew looked flustered after glancing at my expression, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to be cross with you. It's just that... Everything's falling apart..." he trailed off, as another tear trickled down his chin.

He made me remember something my mother used to tell me when I was young, "Every _gay_ cloud has a silver lining," I said, reminiscing.

"What?" Drew said incredulously. He looked at me like I had lost my mind completely.

"_Gray_ cloud! I mean _gray_ cloud!" I corrected myself, wildly. He glared at me.

"It just means that something good comes out of everything bad," I replied, smiling slightly.

"Oh..."

I was surprised at how vulnerable he seemed at the moment. Usually he was overly arrogant, and quite full of himself, flipping his hair to accentuate it. But now his hair hung limp and stringy, his skin was clammy as opposed to its usual flawlessness, and his face made him look older, in its grimace of despair. Usually it was curved into a cross between a sneer and a smirk.

"Look, do you want to talk about it?" I asked him gently, "Usually it makes you feel better..."

"No," he said at once, getting up, "Thanks though, May."

I smiled again, though this time wider. He winced slightly, "Are you sure you're okay? Are you sick?"

He looked confused, "No. Why?"

"You're not acting like your usual self," I admitted glumly, "I miss the funny, jokey Drew."

He smiled sadly, looking at his dirty shoelaces, "He'll be gone for a while. There's nothing I can do about that."

I couldn't help my self asking, "Was it you I heard crying last night?" I saw his devastated expression, blushed red, and added, "I thought Harley had broken a nail or something, so I was worried right away..."

Drew didn't laugh at that, and he still looked destroyed which made guilt pulse through my veins.

He sighed deeply, glanced up, and return his eyes to his shoelaces again, as if the answer to ending world poverty was written there. He sighed again, and then choked out, "May, my mother is dead."

"What?" I blurted out, and then covered my mouth. He winced again, as if I was causing him real physical pain.

He swallowed hard, and then continued, "She died of...of a heart attack. Nothing...the doctors...could...could do..." He couldn't go on and broke into heaving sobs.

I hurried over and put my arms around him to stop him from collapsing.

"Drew, don't worry, she's in a better place."

"But...I'll never see her again!" he wailed, "I never got to say goodbye!" He sobbed violently into my shoulder.

"Drew. You can get through this," I told him, grabbing his shoulders and holding him so that his face was inches away from mine, "Would she want you to break down like this?"

"Well, I don't really know, see. I never exactly asked her if she'd want me to breakdown if she kicked the bucket..." he started sarcastically, but then broke down again before he could finish.

"Drew," I said, but he still didn't look at me, "Drew!" I said again, shaking his shoulders roughly. He glanced at me miserably.

"May, I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. What's there worth living for?"

"Drew, you're going to make it through this. You're going to recover. I'll be with you every step of the way, even if it kills me," He tried to recoil after the word "killed" but I held him in place. He felt so weak, it was alarming, "Do you know why that is Drew? It's because I love you. I want you to be okay."

Drew didn't look like he could say anything if he wanted to. He just stood there, still as a statue, not fighting my arms as he was before, but still, his mouth gaping at me.

"You need me Drew," I said, giving his shoulders a squeeze. I had so much adrenaline that I guess i didn't realize the weight of what I had just said.

He considered me for a moment, and i just gazed into his puffy, bloodshot eyes and splotchy skin, holding my breath

"You're right," he said, "I've always needed you. Ever since I met you."

I was speechless yet again. This was getting ridiculous. I willed my tongue to move, but it was frozen. I was frustrated.

He continued on, "But I guess I've scared you now, haven't I?"

"No, of course not!" I stammered quickly, "No, I'm not scared. I have a strong stomach."

_What?_

_What did I just say?_

Drew looked baffled, "Uh...?"

"Sorry, I said that wrong," I blushed, almost laughing out of the nerves that were kicking back in. The adrenaline must have been wearing off. "What I meant was, that you don't scare me, mainly because I feel the same way. Yeah..." I trailed off awkwardly.

He looked thoughtful, and then wiped his eyes and said, "You're just saying that." His tone was accusing.

"No, I'm not!"

"Yes you are. Don't feel bad for me. Tell me the truth."

He was being so infuriating that I wanted to smack him across the face and scream "I love you!" at the top of my lungs, but refrained from doing so. It seemed like a bad idea. Probably.

"I'm telling you the truth Drew. I swear to all that is holy that I feel the same way."

He still looked disbelieving so I mumbled, "_Cross my heart and hope to die, stick a needle in my eye_."

His face was still dark, but I could see it brighten ever so slightly, "So...uh...we like each other, huh?"

And it was suddenly so awkward, you could practically reach out and grasp the awkward in the air.

"Uh...yeah..." I replied, unable to look at his face. I was scared of his expression. Was he not accepting? Wary? Annoyed?

"What exactly does that mean for us?" Drew asked, slightly cautiously.

It was now my turn to flinch, "Um, it's up to you."

What was wrong with me today? It was like aliens invaded my brain and filled it with the stupidest things to say. Get a grip May! Jeez...

"Oh...well...in that case...uh..."

I abruptly said, "Spit it out, kiddo."

He stopped stuttering and I could feel his questioning glance burning into my face. I felt like my head would explode from the heat. Oh, god. I hoped my deodorant was still working! At this point, I really wished I could melt into the floor and be done with it.

"Do you want to...be together May?" Drew asked, "No, look at me. I think that is a good idea. We could last a long time. I think it's a good idea and..."

I silenced him with a glare. "Do you mean, forever?"

Drew shrugged. "And ever," he replied.

"Alright," I said, feeling a spark in my eye, "And I do want a ring should we get married. But Harley's not invited to the wedding."

He smiled for the first time today. It was the smile of a depressed man when his friend had told a corny joke, but still, it was there.

"I can live with that," he agreed. I thought I could hear the smallest chuckle in his voice, before it quivered again, and more salty tear drops fell to the dusty ground, leaving marks where they landed.


	7. Chapter 6

"You just lost the game!" I told Drew, who was in the middle of explaining the rules of Monopoly to Harley.

He stiffened for a moment, looked over at me, and muttered, "Oh._ Shit_."

Harley looked appalled, "Language, young man! Better go wash that out with soap!"

"I'm fifteen!" complained Drew.

I smiled, "And he is slightly more mature than you, Harley."

Drew smirked at Harley, triumphantly, and then reached over and gave me a knuckle touch.

Harley's expression turned sour, "Stupid love birds! Screw this game. I've already lost it!" He stomped off, wringing his hands maniacally. He thought we were in love, but we still denied it. Harley didn't have to know the truth, an, quite frankly, we'd prefer it if he didn't.

Drew and I gave each other quizzical looks, but then Drew said, "Oh Harley."

I sighed dramatically, "Oh, I'm so miserable," I said, making huge arm gestures.

Drew caught on, "I can't have ranch dressing on my salad!" he shrieked, in the perfect pitch, "It must be _LOW-FAT_!"

Solidad had been looking through travel brochures, but Drew's scream made her jump, spilling her tea all over herself. She looked wildly behind her.

"Harley? It's breakfast time!" She whipped her head around and glared at us, realization sinking in.

"Was that you?" she asked angrily, her eyes piercing into Drew's, "Don't do that! Thank _Arceus _that wasn't hot!"

Drew chuckled so low that Solidad couldn't hear.

"It was a good imitation, wasn't it Solidad?" I piped in, "I mean, that could be useful someday, right?"

Solidad couldn't keep herself from laughing. "I'll give you that one, Drew."

The past few days had been slow. Drew had recovered slightly, but still he'd break down every once in a while. We had to careful with our words. I did not mention my mother and Solidad stopped drawing hearts on papers the way she used to. Solidad knew what had happened, but Drew forbade us from telling Harley anything, so we did not. Harley must have thought Drew was crying because of his mid-life crisis, or something else that Harley believed in.

We were now in Cerulean City, and had avoided taking Mt. Moon for obvious reasons. Instead, we hiked over the cave, our Pokemon, especially my Blaziken, assisting us greatly.

I hadn't visited Misty yet. We weren't particularly good friends, and Drew didn't really care for her either. Still, I felt guilty and made amends to see her before we would leave.

Solidad, Harley, Drew, and I walked about downtown Cerulean, taking in all the gorgeous scenery and clean, impressive buildings. We saw the Cerulean gym, that Drew didn't bother going to because he said the Pokemon league was not his "thing." We walked through the Oceanic Museum and saw the breathtakingly beautiful pearls on display there.

Soon enough, Drew and I were getting bored of walking and decided to split off from the group. I caught Solidad's eye as we crept away, but she seemed to turn temporarily blind. Harley did not notice we left for a while. He also pretended not to notice according to Solidad.

"I wanna just take a walk," Drew told me, taking my hand and leading me through the streets.

We took our walk, hand in hand, although it was romantic, it was more like he was the dog and I was walking him, the way he constantly rushed ahead and urged me to go faster.

Eventually, we took a rest on a park bench outside of the Pokemon Center. Drew was still holding my hand, and I found I wasn't as nervous around him as I usually was.

"I think that one's Orion," Drew said, looking up and pointing out a constellation.

"Hmm..." I searched the sky, looking for a familiar pattern, "That's a "w", I think. It's Andromeda."

"Well then," Drew scanned the sky carefully, looking for something impressive, but then said lamely, "That's the little dipper."

"And there's the big dipper right next to it," I added, pointing up at the bright stars.

Drew leaned in toward me and my heart almost stopped.

"There's May," he said, leaning in more and kissing me.

Alarmed at first, I kept my eyes wide open and surprised, but gradually I fell into my comfort level and my eyes fluttered shut.

He pulled back smiling, and, to be honest, I have no idea how weird my expression must have been.

"Well, that was nice," I commented sheepishly.

"Yeah," he agreed, standing up and stretching with a yawn.

"It's getting late..." I started.

"...We should get some sleep," said Drew, holding out his hand again, "After all, I wouldn't want Harley to get any ideas about us." He winked.

"No, no," I replied. It was our little inside joke, "That would be at the top of my list of things never to do."

"Ditto," said Drew, as we glided into the dimly lit lobby of the Pokemon Center. My lips were still tingling.


	8. Chapter 7

I had never before blushed the way I was blushing now.

Harley and Solidad were playing twenty questions with Drew and me, as we had arrived just this side of late one night. We were late because of...well, I don't much want to explain it.

But it was when Harley asked, "Did you two make out or something?" that I cringed.

Drew had calmly said, "No. Shut up, Harley," but I think the red of my cheeks gave it away.

Harley must have seen my embarrased face and put two and two together.

"Are you and Drew together? May!" Harley exclaimed in all his girly delight.

"No!" Drew, Solidad, and I said in unison.

"But they were going at it. You two were, admit it!" Harley excalimed, bouncing from foot to foot like a fan girl about to wet herself from excitement.

"No, we weren't," Drew said, but now he was blushing slightly, because that was precisely what we had done.

Solidad looked slightly concerned and told Harley to leave us alone. Harley shrieked about conspiracy theories and about how we were all out to get him before he went into the boys bunks, slamming and locking the door behind him.

Oh yeah, there's this thing about Solidad. I call it telepathy, she calls it "motherly instinct". Basically, she knows what's going on at all times whether you tell her or not. It can be good or bad. For example, it's good when you really want pizza and she knows to take you out for pizza. It's bad when...well, you'll see:

Solidad then came over us. "I'm worried about the two of you!"

"You shouldn't be," I said. "Nothing's going on. We're healthy and happy. No big deal."

"No, I didn't think you'd gotten abducted or anything, not that." Solidad shook her head.

"Then what is it?" Drew asked.

"Well, it's that, well, a relationship like the one you two have requires certain precautions..."

Drew and I just looked at each other. Neither one of us knew where she going with this.

"Okay, so let me talk to you guys about..." She pursed her lips, pausing for just a moment, and then continued slowly and carefully, "Well, bad things can happen during sexual relationships..."

"You are _not_ giving May and me a sex talk!" Drew yelped, and we both burst out laughing. Still, Solidad looked completely serious.

"I'm still worried. May, you _are_ a virgin, right?"

I laughed in astonishment, "Of course I'm a virgin. That's not going to change, Solidad. No worries."

"Okay, just making sure. You never know with..." She glanced at Drew. "..._him_."

As she left, Drew gave me a questioning look. "_Him?"_

We just stared at each other for a bit, and then burst out laughing again.

"She can't honestly think we, you know, _did it_...can she?" I wondered out loud.

Drew smiled widely, "I wish."

_"WHAT?"_

"I'm a fifteen year old guy, May. I like girls."

"Shut up, Drew."

"Okay."

I looked at his mock serious face and couldn't help giggling. I loved him a lot, and had just realized it.

"Oh Drew. Damn you!" I got up and sat in his lap. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders.

"We have to see Misty tomorrow, you know. I haven't said hi yet," I said.

"We will, don't worry. I'll go with you." He looked at me with as much sincerity as he could. Still, I could see a darkness in his eyes.

"What's wrong Drew?"

Suddenly, his smile turned into a despairing grimace. "Nothing."

"I can see you're upset."

Then he lost his grip on control. "May, I promised her!" His voice was quivering. "I promised her I would earn every badge I could when I left. She wanted me to beat Steven!"

"Drew," I said, putting my face so close to his that we were practically nose to nose, "I will help you do that. Brock will give you a battle..._eventually_. Misty will, too. We will track down that Viridian guy, and he'll battle you as well. I'll be with you every step of the way."

Drew stared at me.

"We can get through it," I said, my voice cracking with encouragement.

"Together?"

"No, I'll be on Jupiter seeing if I can yell loud enough for you to hear." I rolled my eyes. "Yes, together, you moron."

He flipped his hair out of his eyes and smiled. The darkness had left his eyes for now. "_Forever?"_

"And ever," I replied.

With another coy smile, he wrapped his hands around my neck and pulled me close to him.

I won't get into the details, but we were, as Harley put it, "going at it."

He pulled away eventually, breathing hard.

"Let's go to sleep," I said, "Before Solidad makes us listen to her sex chat."

"Oh, I sure as hell don't want to listen to that."

"And we sure as hell don't want Harley to have a part in it either," I remarked as I hugged him. I was so tired that the minute I hit the sheets of my bunk I was asleep.


	9. Chapter 8

"You can't, like, see Misty right now. We're, like, getting ready for a show and stuff," a beach blond girl told me when I tried to force myself into Cerulean gym, "So can you, like, leave now?"

A brunette leaned against the blue painted wall of the building filing her nails and looking bored. I noticed quickly that both girls were much older and much taller than I was. They were even taller than Drew. They also looked like supermodels. Bitchy, but dumb as a sack of hammers.

Drew flipped his hair and asserted his masculinity. "Well, we need to see Misty, so, ladies, if you'll stand aside for us..."

Then the brunette stood up straight and stared him down. Drew shrunk back a bit. "No can do," the blond said. "Come on, we need to get into costumes," she told the brunette with a sly smile.

Drew groaned in annoyance. "I hate girls like that. They're terrible people and I hope they fall down a flight of stairs."

"Hm, not bad, not bad," I remarked, analyzing his choice of torture. "But I think I'd prefer shaving their heads and breaking all their nails."

"Even the toenails?"

"Are they _that_ bad?"

"Yes, they definitely are."

"Oh, you're bad," I laughed, taking his hand. "Unfortunately, we_ do _need to get in. You've got a battle to win, and I've got a friend to greet. Is Roserade up for it?"

"She was born ready. It's not difficult to take down a water gym," Drew said, looking cocky as usual.

"Well, since we can't get in through the back, do you want to just buy a ticket and watch the show?" I asked, running out of breaking and entering ideas, "It can't be that bad, could it?"

Drew shrugged. "Why not?"

We ran to the front of the stadium and bought our tickets.

"Ten bucks? Really? Is it worth that much?" Drew exclaimed, exasperated.

"Take it or leave it," said the ticket lady, in an incredibly annoyed voice.

At that point, I grabbed Drew's arm and dragged him into the building through clear doors before the lady could call security. We settled into front row seats, which, surprisingly enough, were almost empty. That was before I realized we were in the _Splash Zone_.

The show was amazing, and I wasn't surprised to see that the ginger was the star of the show. Misty looked beautiful, almost like a mermaid. Her Golduck danced with her like they were in a salsa, except underwater. Staryu and Starmie did this vortex thing that kept them in the air. The water shimmered like a thousand diamonds around Misty and her sisters who danced around beneath her. They splashed and doved around like dolphins. I was in awe.

After the show ended, I knew my mouth was still hanging open. I glanced over to see Drew's reaction.

He looked amused. Turning his head to me with his hand on his chin in a pondering position, he said, "No big deal," and flipped his hair.

I didn't say anything, but, somehow, my mouth was still hanging open.

"If you don't close that jaw, a bee's gonna fly down your throat," said Drew, who looked even more amused.

I clenched my teeth, angrily. "How can you say that wasn't ridiculously..._amazing!"_

"That wasn't ridiculously amazing. There, I said it. How did I say it? _Easily_. I've seen better."

"Shut up, Drew. Where?"

He didn't say anything, and that enraged me. "_Where?" _I repeated more forcefully.

He raised his eyebrow. "You told me to shut up."

"Un-shut and tell me where," I said, throwing my hands up in the air in frustration.

"At Pokemon Contests."

"What Pokemon contest are you referring to exactly?" I asked, trying to rack my brains for a memory of such a spectacular performance.

"Every one I've been in. I'm better than this."

I just looked at him for a minute, but then sighed heavily. "I should have seen that answer coming. Honestly, could your head be any bigger?"

Drew chuckled. "It's just the right size for such an attractive _homo sapien_."

I smacked him in the side of the head lightly. "Seriously though, shut up now."

We tried to get backstage to see Misty, but a beefy security guard told us to wait because we were soaking wet.

In the meantime, I wrung out my bandanna and combed through my damp hair with my fingers. Drew shook his head like a wet dog and sprayed the guard who did not seem too happy about that.

"Misty! You have visitors," the guard said to the redhead who was emerging from behind a curtain.

"May! Drew! Hey guys!" Misty exclaimed, giving me a high-five and Drew a nod. They didn't always get along.

"Hey Misty. I thought I should drop by and say hi since I was in town. Oh, and someone wants to challenge you," I said.

"Who?" Misty questioned, looking curious.

"Me," Drew said, stepping up and looking Misty hard in the eye.

"Tomorrow, okay?" Misty replied, not looking shocked at Drew's assertion, "I need a break. I'm tired."

"The show was amazing," I added with a grin.

"Hey, thanks. So here, same time tomorrow?"

Drew and I shot each other nervous looks. We were to leave Cerulean tomorrow afternoon.

"Solidad's not going to be happy, but, whatever. It's a date," Drew said, winking at me.


	10. Chapter 9

I was humming to myself, serenely, as the heated battle of wits and Pokemon began.

Misty stood at one side of a pool of water, chest out in confidence. She knew in her heart that she was going to beat down anybody that stood in her path. I wondered if her heart's feeling was the truth.

Drew had a similar stance, though his expression wasn't of quite the same magnitude. That might have had something to do with the fact that one of Misty's sisters pushed him in the pool before the battle began. Apparently, he called her a "bimbo" and it didn't go over well. I almost peed myself laughing. His clothes were still sopping wet and his hair plastered his face like a helmet. It wouldn't flip the way it usually did.

Even still, he grabbed a pokeball from his waist and clutched at it like he would a soda. He was so nonchalant when he battled. It was like it was no big deal to him. I knew I was the opposite of that. Oftentimes, I was a nervous wreck when I battled, and our contrast was unbelievable.

Misty clutched at her pokeball that she drew from her belt like it was her own newborn child. She treated pokemon more like her own offspring, while Drew treated his as his partners in crime.

Me? My Pokemon treated me like_ they _were_ my _master. It was best, after all, they probably could instruct themselves better than I could them. It was only on the days that clicked especially well that I could order and they would do exactly as I said. And of about twenty percent of those days, the things I ordered actually worked...

_Anyway_, back to the battle.

Drew brought his arm back gracefully as he yelled, "Let's go Roserade!" and out exploded that ladylike flower Pokemon, twirling her arms and sparkling with shimmering powder that surrounded her like a veil. She was the definition of a mixture of confidence and beauty with badass hidden somewhere underneath.

Misty laughed into the heel of her hand. Clearly, this choice was obvious to her. She was still chuckling ever so slightly as she called out, "Starmie, into the water. Let's go."

The star shaped Pokemon with the jewel encrusted into it's center leaped into the pool without a second to lose.

Drew was smiling like he had won the lottery. "Starmie? That lame little thing?" he mumbled to himself, though loud enough that I could overhear, "Not a problem."

Misty picked up on his sudden, new found arrogance and looked more confident in her abilities than she had before. Placing a hand upon her narrow waist, she pointed to the Roserade and cried, "Starmie, psybeam now!"

A beam of light and visible color shot from the red jewel of the Starmie. It struck Roserade before Drew could say anything, and the Roserade staggered back, clutching her head.

"A psybeam?" Drew mumbled, but then added more loudly, "We'll take down it's clear weakness. Roserade, giga drain. Take him down!"

Green spores shot out from Roserade's small, powerful body, and, though Starmie dodged away from some of them, most of the spores latched themselves onto the damp body of the starfish.

Starmie, spun in the air to try to rip the parasites off himself, but failed to do so. Shaking, the Starmie threw itself into the water, thrashing about.

Drew looked ecstatic. "That's good, Rose, now, use your poisonpowder."

Now, purple spores launched from the Roserade and danced through the air, all aimed straight for the Starmie that launched itself back out of the water in a failed attempt at freeing itself from the giga drain. As the purple spores met the starfish's body, the green spores disappeared. Starmie landed back on the ground, but struggled to stay upright.

"C'mon Starmie! Stay up, you can do it! Fight through it. Try your psychic attack!" Misty yelped at her Starmie, looking a bit distraught, but concerned at her Pokemon's health. She knew Drew had poisoned Starmie very badly.

Starmie jerked and an invisible but forceful energy passed through the median of the open air above the pool and before Roserade could figure out what was happening, was hit hard. She fell upon her back, the shimmering ceasing as its producer lost focus.

"Rose!" screamed the Roserade who struggled to get back on her feet.

"Roserade! One more giga drain. Do it!" Drew yelled at his flower Pokemon, looking slightly unnerved and sweaty.

Roserade obeyed her master almost immediately and sent the green spores out from her body once again.

The Starmie was not quick on his feet as he was still feeling the effects of poisoning. Every spore hit him full on and he was on his back, struggling for a while, but then still. Starmie has fainted.

Drew won the match. It had all happened so quickly that it seemed not to register in Misty's brain right away.

"Starmie! R-Return..." she said, holding a pokeball out as to give her battered Pokemon a well-deserved rest.

"Drew! You did it!" I heard myself exclaim from the stands. Somehow, a part of me knew what was going on, but the rest of me lingered on Drew's face. Shock at first, but then the face broke into utter joy.

"Roserade, return," Drew said, grinning. A beam of red light spilled out around the Roserade and then she was there no more.

Misty pulled a small package from her pocket. "What a match!" she said, swaying slightly. "It was definitely exciting. Here's commemoration for your achievement."

"Yay, Drew!" I cheered.

Drew smiled at me sheepishly and turned back to Misty.

"Basically," Misty said, "it means you kicked my ass. _Congrats_."

She laughed and Drew and I joined in, though slightly uneasily. Despite losing, she could still laugh at herself. I could definitely learn from this girl.

"Thank you," Drew and I told Misty, who just shrugged it off.

"Being nice to people is in my job description. If it wasn't for my love of battling I'd get out of this place as soon as I could."

"Really? You're terrific at the water show," I burst out.

"Yeah, but there's a small problem with that. Seeing as I can't stand any of my sisters, it doesn't always end well."

"What have they done to you?" Drew asked, curiously.

"They always accuse me of being Ash's girlfriend," Misty replied, looking nothing but disgusted.

"Oh..." Drew and I said in unison and then left it at that. We didn't want to torture the poor girl.

We turned to say our goodbyes and leave, but Misty stopped us. "Hold on a second, Drew, May..." she said. "Don't be offended if I'm wrong, but, _are you a couple_?"

"Yeah, we are," Drew said, crossing his arms and looking down, "Are we that obvious?"

Misty looked uncomfortable. "Well, kind of. I don't know, but I hear I'm good at picking up on that kind of thing..."

I felt myself blush a little bit and Misty regained her calm.

"Anyway, we need to get back before Solidad has a heart attack like she did yesterday," Drew said, giving Misty an apologetic look.

"Thanks so much fro putting up with us. It was nice to see you again," I added.

"No problem. Tell me when and where you see Ash or Brock so I can whip them into shape. I haven't seen them for a while," she said with a wink, and we both complied.

We walked back to the Pokemon center, our intertwined fingers swinging back and forth.

"Solidad's going to be furious with us," Drew said, sounding a little bit hesitant to return.

"Well, what can we do about that? You're closer to beating the champion now, who, by the way, isn't Steven."

"What?"

"Steven used to champion in Hoenn and then Kanto for a while, but now it's some kid named Oak. Gary, I think. I've met him before."

"Gary Oak? Sounds familiar."

"That's because Ash and Gary want to rip each other's faces to shreds," I explained, demonstrating the ripping on an invisible person in front of me.

"Oh, well, than that would make sense. Anyway, let's walk just a little faster. If Solidad wants to, quote-unquote, 'rip our faces to shreds,' I'd prefer having a little bit of face left so I can eat and see."

"Agreed."

With that, we power-walked our way back to the Pokemon Center with all due speed. After all, we still had traveling to do and I was dead tired.


	11. Chapter 10

Solidad was much, much more angry than I expected.

"You two better get your act together or we're just going to leave you fending for yourselves!" she howled at us, looking quite fearsome. "_I can only keep this charade going for so long!_"

She looked at Drew and me irately, but also in a knowing way, and Harley picked up on that.

"_Charade?_ Oooh, Solidad, do tell!" he said, clapping his hands together.

Solidad's face reddened, clearly picking up on her blunder. "Charade of...calm, Harley. I haven't killed anyone yet, so you better not anger me." With that lie, she stormed away, her hands at her sides clutched in tiny fists. The knuckles were white.

Harley looked disappointed, but still didn't hesitate to stick his tongue out at us in an insulting fashion.

Drew started to get up, maybe to punch Harley's lights out while his back was turned, maybe to apologize to Solidad, but still, I held him down.

He gave me a hard, meaningful look for a few seconds and I stared at him right back. Finally, we both lost it at the same moment, bursting into peals of boisterous laughter.

"Harley is so clueless!" Drew said, once Solidad and Harley were out of earshot.

"Yeah, I know... But, he's probably not as stupid as you think. He is getting suspicious," I said. I wanted to be a cautious about everything as possible.

"Yeah, well, he won't know," Drew assured himself.

"I don't think we're doing a great job of keeping this from him," I remarked.

Drew stood up and started pacing.

"You might be right," he said, "But, still, he doesn't know or, knowing Harley, he'd say something for sure."

"You're probably right. Hm..." I wondered about Harley's actions that day, but then shook the thought from my head. Worrying about Harley didn't belong in this conversation; Drew and I were alone again. "Let's not worry about this now," I said. "We have more pressing issues."

"Like _what_?"

"Packing for our trip to Saffron City! Solidad says we have to get there by dusk tonight and it's already one o'clock! If we don't get going soon, Solidad might have a heart attack."

To sum things up, we packed, we complained, but we got there in the end. And, with Solidad's lashing at us like a whip, we got there before dusk. The sun was setting on Kanto just as we reached the pokemon center.

"May?" Drew called.

"Yes?"

"Do you want to walk around the city tomorrow?" he asked, his eyes sweet.

"Sure, but I hope you have a better sense of direction than I do."

"That's not that hard," he said, and then started running off before I could smack him. "Get to bed, May," he yelled as he ran.

So I did. And I put my worries in my pocket as I did so, only to pull them out the next day.


	12. Chapter 11

Long story short, Drew did not keep his word. We got lost. Very lost.

It only took us about three blocks too. My conclusion? We are pathetic. But, hey, at least we're in together.

"I know the way," Drew said, marching along happily. "Don't you worry."

"Are you sure?" I asked, cautiously.

"I'm one hundred percent positive," he replied, still marching and smiling.

"Which way is the pokemon center, then?" I challenged him.

He stopped and looked around ominously. "Uh," he pointed off in a random direction. "There!" He moved it slightly. "See?"

I rolled my eyes and grabbed his hand. "I told you we should have gotten directions from Nurse Joy, though. Not to be rude or anything, but, _I told you so_!"

'You always tell me so May. It's a bad habit," he remarked, shrugging his shoulders.

"Are you calling me _a nag_, Drew?"

He flipped his hair over his forehead and smirked. "Not exactly."

"Well, I might be a nag, but you _need_ someone to nag you."

"Hmm...well then, I guess we're a good couple."

"I hate it when you do that," I blurted without meaning to.

"What?"

"Flip your hair."

"What do you mean?"

I demonstrated by brushing my bangs across my forehead. "_That_," I explained. "You don't have enough hair to even get in your eyes."

He looked disbelieving. "You don't like that?"

"No, why would I?" I said, incredulously.

"Oh, I always did it, because, well, I thought you thought it was cute..." he trailed off, blushing the color of my red bandanna.

I burst out laughing uncontrollably. "Drew..." I choked out, "I like you for who _you_ are!"

He blushed even harder and squeezed him into a hug, patting him on the back. "Don't worry about it. It's not that embarrassing. I can't say a decent comeback to you. That's embarrassing on _my_ part."

He looked up at me slyly. "You can't make a good comeback to anyone," he said.

"Nobody asked you, Drew!" I snapped, but then chuckled, "I was trying to make you feel better!"

"I couldn't help it," he apologized, "You're just too easy a target. It's like you're setting yourself up for it!"

He reached up to flip his hair again, but I beat him to it. I left my fingers in his hair for a while, brushing it back and looking into his eyes.

"You caught me," he said. "It's something of a habit now."

"You do it every time you're acting arrogantly," I said, now wrapping my hands behind his neck and giving him what I thought was a deep reassuring look.

"Arrogant? Me? _No_," he said, smirking slyly again.

"You seem pretty confident, don't you?" I said, having no idea where my fearlessness was coming from. It was weird; I felt at ease even when his lips were less than eight inches from mine. How much I wanted to meet them with my own.

"I'm not always confident," he admitted, pulling away from my arms and crashing down onto the nearest park bench.

Disappointed, I sat myself down very close to him.

"What are you talking about? I've never seen you insecure...except for...once." I suddenly remembered the day we became a couple and he cried his eyes out. He had a good excuse, his mother died after all, and he was confident enough to cry before me.

He put his head in his hands. "I'm a sucky boyfriend, aren't I May?"

Surprised, I immediately replied, "What? No! What gives you that idea?"

"I always make fun of you," Drew said, shaking his head and dropping his hands into his lap, "And, you know, I'm not a very nice guy and kind of shrimpy and..."

I put my hand over one of his and interrupted him. "We all have our own faults," I said. "But they're what makes us human. I'm clumsy, shy, I stutter, I'm anxious, and I'm on the scrawny side too. I'm a normal human being."

"Are you sure about that?" he snorted, but then bit his lip. "I said I wasn't going to do that anymore. Sorry."

"Don't be, Drew, it was actually funny. I can laugh at myself sometimes and so can you."

He grimaced, but looked at me carefully, almost hesitantly. "I'm not as good at it as you are. I'm kind of a perfectionist, May, I don't know if you knew that or anything."

"Really, Drew? A perfectionist? _Really?" _I said, sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "I had no idea!"

"Are you being sarcastic?" he asked, nervously.

"_No_," I replied with another sarcastic grin.

He gave me a funny look. "Wait, was that sarcastic?"

"Figure it out. Get your head in the game."

The corner's of his mouth lifted and he said, "Okay, _that_ means it was sarcastic."

"Wow."

That was all I had time to say before he literally grabbed me and pulled me as close to him as humanly possible. I barely had time to gasp for air.

His lips cascaded onto mine, surprisingly gently for the way he had pulled me to him. It was blissful, feeling his arms wrap themselves around me and hold on tight for dear life. I felt safe and somewhat wild. He sure wasn't a "good boy" and I didn't regard myself as a "good girl" as I felt my innocence lifting. I could now feel his arms moving along the contours of my body and my mouth froze on his.

"Hey! Look what I've found, Solidad," a voice that sounded eerily like Harley's. "_Love birds_! Aren't they _so_ cute you just want to take a picture?"

I broke away from Drew in shock and stared into the face of that purple haired devil.


	13. Chapter 12

Fate does some pretty crazy shit to you sometimes. For example:

Drew toppled over the back of the bench. It would have been funny, had it not been for the current circumstances. I myself felt like crawling into a hole and dying. I thought my head was going to explode; it felt so hot from blushing.

Solidad looked uncomfortable. I could see her eyes darting from Drew to me, not lingering on either face for more than five seconds. She looked like she felt guilty.

Harley, on the other hand, looked overjoyed. Practically gleeful. Usually when that happens, it's at my own or Drew's expense. This time it was both. It must be the best day ever for him.

"And you said you _weren't_ a couple!" Harley exclaimed, standing on his toes, his hands on his cheeks, "I think you were liars!"

Solidad elbowed him hard in the ribs and Drew got onto his feet and into Harley's face. "Harley, get lost."

Harley didn't back down, but got even more into Drew's face as he blubbered, "Or else what? Will you kiss me like _that_? I bet May's pretty happy right now." He pulled away from Drew, arms crossed in front of his chest and grinning evilly.

I was too embarrassed to say a word and that made Harley grin wider.

Solidad piped up, "Harley, don't you think you should back off a bit? You're being a jerk."

Harley's grin disappeared. "I knew it was coming and they were kissing in public! Of course they're going to be embarrassed," he snapped.

Finally, I made words come out of my mouth. "Harley, can you please, please leave? I think we've been punished enough."

Drew opened his mouth to add a comment, but then closed it with better judgment.

"You look like a fish when you do that, darling," Harley told him and then looked at Solidad. "And I'm not leaving until I have properly scolded them. I am the better parent after all."

Solidad gulped, but said nothing and nodded.

"Parent? What _the hell_ are you talking about Harley?" I exploded, "If anything, we're _your_ parents!"

"Ouch! That burns, May. Really it does," Harley said, a mock expression of pain on his face but then he went back to his smile. "Technically, Solidad and I are your legal guardians while you're on this trip."

"I didn't sign up for this!" Drew retorted, "If I'd have known that, I'd have left already!"

I didn't say anything, just threw a venomous look in Harley's direction.

Harley went on, "Anyway, it's _my_ responsibility to make sure you two get punished for any wrong-doing. Like this..."

Finally, Solidad spoke. "Harley, you can't punish them for kissing!"

"I'm punishing Drew for inappropriate sexual contact," Harley replied nastily, which made Solidad shrink back.

"Sexual Contact?" I exclaimed, laughing at the stupidity of this conviction, "That requires contact without the other person's consent, right?"

Harley ignored me. "So, Drew, I'm gonna say that you have to carry my stuff to Celadon."

Drew looked outraged. "Excuse me? Maybe I heard you wrong, but I'm _not _carrying your twenty bags of hair curlers and flat irons!"

"Isn't that a little much?" Solidad accused Harley.

Harley looked Drew hard in the face and, for what seemed like an hour, they stared each other down, neither one wanting to be the first to blink.

"Can't we just work this out?" Solidad said, trying to put herself between Harley and Drew.

Harley pushed her away with a swipe of his hand and she fell into the street as a car came rushing through the same lane.

I watched Solidad raise her head and have just enough time to look up in utter terror as the car swerved. Though it missed most of her, I blinked and one moment she was screaming when nothing appeared to be wrong, and, the next moment, her left hand was a bloodied mess.

"Oh, _fuck!" _Drew cried, as he rushed over into the street almost immediately.

Harley's reaction mirrored mine. I was rooted into place, my hand over my mouth in shock, unable to speak or even breathe. I felt paralyzed.

Drew was leaning over Solidad and examining her mangled hand. By this point, she had passed out, her body limp on the street. The driver had just gone on. The cruelty of that action was beyond belief. How could someone strike a person with their car and just leave?

"Someone call an ambulance!" Drew screamed at Harley and I. Adrenaline kicked in through my body and I reached into my bag and pulled out my PokeNav.

I don't remember the phone call at all, but five minutes later we heard a siren and Solidad was carried off in a stretcher. As she passed in front of us, I saw her skin was pale as death and her face screwed up in a frightened look of surprise. I couldn't look at it for long, it made me want to throw up.

Drew rode along with the ambulance, leaving Harley and I to walk to the hospital. I had no intention of walking with him, so I ran off at first chance.

As I ran, the dam broke and tears spewed down my cheeks. The tears turned into violent heaving sobs and I forced to stop so I could breathe. I felt like I was actually suffocating. How could Harley have done something like that? He _liked_ Solidad.

I decided that I'd have to accept that fate was unpredictable. It was our actions that made all the difference. Had Harley not pushed her, Solidad would not be in her current state. Had Drew not stood up to Harley, Solidad would not have thrown herself between the two. Had Drew and I been more...careful about our relationship, then none of this would have happened.

Solidad didn't deserve this. She had tried to protect two of her best friends from hurting each other. What did she get for it? She could be dead. And worse than that, she might suffer for the rest of her life.

Because of Drew and me. That's what it came down to. Drew and I hurt Solidad.

I felt the guilt crash on me like a tsunami.

Fate does some pretty crazy shit sometimes, and this was just the tip of the iceberg.


	14. Chapter 13

"Are you okay, sweetie?" an old lady called out to me, but I stumbled past them as fast as I could. I couldn't stand seeing anyone's face or talking. The pain was too great.

I reached the hospital and managed to choke out Solidad's name to the nurse behind the front desk.

"She's in critical condition down the hall," the nurse replied, and I didn't dare look up into her worried face. "But, you can wait right outside the door. There are chairs set up there. I can get a magazine..."

I shook my head abruptly, and trudged over to the chairs by the emergency room. I saw his shoes. I saw his hands clenched into shaking fists. I saw falling tears. I didn't need to look up to know who it was.

I took a seat right next to him. Putting my arm around him, I rubbed his back to comfort him, but, at the same time, I knew I was comforting myself.

We sat in silence for what seemed like forever. Nurse came over to tell us news, but we waved them away. We didn't need more.

Harley didn't bother to show his ugly face. I hope he figured out that I wouldn't be able to control myself around him. I knew Drew wouldn't either. Right now, the suffering was his fault and I wanted to avenge it.

Day turned into night. I hadn't eaten anything, but I lost my appetite. A nurse told us to leave for the night. Visiting hours resumed in the morning. Solidad was having surgery.

Still, I could not bear to look at Drew's destroyed face.

We checked into the Pokemon Center, not getting lost on our way there, and went into our adjacent rooms.

As I laid on my bed, I stared up at the bunk above me and just thought. I didn't cry, or really feel any emotions for that matter. I just stared and thought. Things started to become a whole lot more logical.

Somewhere between remembering Solidad's exact last words and her face before the car struck her down, I fell asleep.

* * *

The morning was tense. We received a phone call that Solidad's visiting hours were to start in an hour, so Drew and I gobbled down breakfast. We did not dare to be late.

"May, have you seen my jacket?" Drew called to me. They were the first words he had said to me in almost twenty-four hours.

It was unusually cold for a September morning. The sprinkle of rain and sharp breeze seemed to reflect our mood. Somber. Like we were going to a funeral for someone we kind of knew. We did not know what to expect. We had cried all of our tears and now was the time for silence and respect.

Upon walking to the emergency room door, we were immediately shooed away by doctors.

"No, we need to see Solidad," Drew said, trying to look innocent.

"She's on the third floor recovering. Now, if you would, please leave," the doctor said, showing us the door.

We found the stairs and sprinted up them.

Out of breath, I asked, "Why do you think they moved Solidad, Drew? Is she going to be okay?"

Drew shook his head. "I have no idea. I wish I did though. It's either that or..." He trailed off, clearly not wanting to finish that sentence or even think about it.

We pushed Solidad's door open, holding our breath and crossing our fingers.

"Guys!" someone exclaimed.

As we entered the room, we found Solidad asleep and Harley sitting at her bedside.

Harley got up and walked towards us. I could feel Drew stepping backward toward the door. I fought the urge to rip Harley limb from limb myself. I took a step in front of Drew, praying that my self control was better than I thought it would be.

"Hello, Harley," I said, stiffly.

"Oh my god, guys. I can't believe what's going on. It's _madness_!" he said, throwing his arms in the air and waving them around to indicate "madness".

"At least it's not our fault," Drew snarled from behind me. I put my hand on his, trying to tell him to calm down.

"It _is_ madness, Harley," I said, narrowing my eyes. "Just how exactly is she doing?"

Harley glanced back at Solidad's sleeping figure and shrugged. "Okay, I suppose-"

"Okay?" Drew yelled at Harley, "Okay? What the hell are you talking about with _okay_?"

"Watch your language," Harley said, coolly. "She's in reasonably good condition, except that-"

I froze. "Except what?"

"Would you all let me finish?" Harley yelped, stomping his foot.

I held my hands up in defeat. "Go."

"Okay. She was in critical condition. Now, they fixed her up. She's recovering now. They gave her surgery, and...yeah."

Drew suddenly stepped in front of me. "Surgery! What does that mean exactly?"

Harley started to look a little afraid. "Well, the doctors said they couldn't do anything and-"

"Tell me what happened!" Drew shrieked.

"They amputated."

"Amputated?" I questioned in horror.

"Her hand?" Drew whispered.

Harley nodded. Drew fell to the ground, his hands grabbing fist fulls of his hair.

"She was all I had left," he muttered. I think he was talking to himself, but loud enough for Harley and I hear, "With mom gone." He started rocking back in forth. It was horrible to watch.

I turned to Harley. "_Her hands gone_?" I couldn't believe it.

Harley ignored me and looked at Drew. "I'm really sorry, Drew."

"No you're not!" Drew screamed, standing up to face Harley and I, "Neither of you are! It's your fault Harley. And, you," he added nastily, looking at me, "You're taking his side. He hurt Solidad. It's his fault and you're helping him!"

I gulped and tried to speak. "Drew...D-Drew..."

"No. I don't want to talk!" he screamed, "Get away from me! I don't want to see either of you!"

He ran out of the room, covering his face.

Harley and I looked at each other warily.

"May...I..."

"Harley, don't worry. He'll come around," I said. "He's just been hurt pretty badly. We have to leave him alone so he can heal. Once he does, he'll come back to us. Just don't worry. Things will work out."

As we both looked back to Solidad, I wished, more than ever, that my words would be true.


	15. Chapter 14

I think Shakespeare has finally taught me something, other than that "to be or not to be" is the question and that parting is such sweet sorrow. I've learned that when it rains it pours and I don't mean that literally.

After Solidad's accident thing just went downhill. She's now one-handed, although she did enjoy drawing little smiley faces on her stump which Harley found very disturbing. Drew had left, and I couldn't find him anywhere in Saffron. And I couldn't bring myself to so much as talk to Harley because I had the strong urge to rip his nose off.

In other words, really, nothing had gotten any better.

Solidad was due to leave the hospital in a day. She wasn't in quite as much pain and another year later she would be getting her prostethic hand.

I honestly didn't know what I'm going to do. It seemed like traveling with Drew was the only thing that kept me in this little group, but now, I didn't seem as tied down. Solidad needs me, sure, but I might have died a little on this inside if I have to stay with Harley. I hoped that Drew would soon return and I found myself often lost in thoughts about him.

One day, I found myself meandering through the streets of Saffron. It wasn't one of my better days either. I found myself overcome with homesickness and longing to return to Petalburg.

A purple-haired girl came up to me. I didn't see her right away. It was like she just appeared.

"Aw, May, cheer up," she said in a misty but comforting voice.

I looked up, startled. "W-what? Who are you?"

"They call me the city's psychic. My name's Sabrina," she said, and I noticed her eyes looked distant and unfocused.

"Oh." I wasn't exactly sure how to reply to that.

"You're missing a boy, aren't you?" Sabrina said, but it sounded like it was directed at herself, "And, I can kind of see him. He's...in the city? I'm not positive where yet, he hasn't made up his mind. His name is...Drew?"

"Wow." I was nothing but amazed. "Drew is his name."

Her eyes were still unfocused and her hair was in her face. "The tall man, he's leaving the pink girl..."

"Harley! Solidad?" I exclaimed, almost taking off towards the hospital. "No, he can't leave her!"

"It's the future, May," Sabrina said. She looked as if she was returning to Earth. Her eyes came into sharp focus and she brushed her hair into place with her small hand.

"Oh," I said, sheepishly, "So, can I change what's going to happen?"

"That's the point," she replied, trying to hide a smile, "Most times it does change. People make other decisions, change their minds, someone new comes into their life..."

I was surprised that I wasn't shocked by the idea of future telling. I had seen psychics before, but it always seemed like bullshit to me. Now, I knew it was the real deal. Then again, I was desperate for knowledge at the time. Anything about Drew may as well have given me false hope.

Sabrina sensed my worry and put on her comforting voice again. "May, calm down. He's here. All you need to do now is find him."

I nodded, now determined.

Then she looked me hard in the face and added, "And when you find him, he will inevitably want to battle me, so bring him to Saffron gym as well, will you?"


	16. Chapter 15

I took Sabrina's advice. But mostly out of desperation.

I was going to look everywhere for Drew anyway, I didn't need Sabrina to tell me that part.

In fact, I was beginning to doubt the whole "psychic" thing, the more I thought about it. I mean, it was obvious I was sad, and chances are that it was about a boy. Obviously, she would predict I would go to look for him, since I missed him. The part that got me was that she knew his name. What were the chances that she could have guessed it right? Maybe she'd seen us perform on TV or something...

I couldn't explain it, so I tried not to think about it. Instead, I focused my efforts on finding Drew.

I covered all of northern, eastern, and southern Saffron. All that was left was western. If he wasn't there, he could be halfway across the world by now. I tried not to think of that as well.

I wandered around, gazing at the tall buildings. Though physically I was on the ground, my mind felt elsewhere. Maybe in the clouds, maybe in a nearby cave. I didn't know.

I finally came upon a pink house by the Silph Co. I figured I would knock on the door and ask the people if they had seen a green haired boy anywhere. What would be the harm in that?

I knocked loudly on the front door. For a while, I waited, but there was no answer. I figured they must not be home. As I turned to leave, I heard a muffled shout from inside.

Were they okay? I decided to try to get in. For all I knew, they were being attacked by burglars!

I jiggled the door handle vigorously, and, much to my surprise, it was open. Leaving the door ajar, I paused only for a moment to hear movement. It was coming from upstairs.

Before moving, I asked myself, "Uh, fifteen year old girl confronts possible axe murderer?"

I took out a Pokeball, threw it, and out popped my Blaziken. He looked concerned, exactly the way I felt.

"We're going to check out what's going on upstairs, Blaze," I said, though my voice was starting to shake with fear. "Can you back me up?"

Blaziken nodded enthusiastically, and punched the air.

I smiled. It felt just like old times.

We ran up the stairs. Well, I ran, Blaziken just hopped them all in one bound and rushed to the closed door. I could hear rustling inside. It wasn't loud, but still, we were worried.

"Blaze?" Blaziken spoke, turning his head sideways curiously.

I knew he wanted to break down the door. I shook my head no. What if nothing was wrong?

"Just open it," I whispered. Adrenaline was starting to kick in; I could feel it.

Blaziken extended his hand slowly, but then, upon grasping the door nob, pushed it open fast with incredible force and control. The door did not slam into the wall, but it did not creak.

The room's occupants did not notice the doors quickly opening right away, which gave me time to figure out what was going on.

There was a table with a Clefairy on it and two chairs. The Clefairy didn't even blink and was looking right at me, so I assumed it was a Doll. On the two chairs sat a brunette girl in a green bandanna and orange dress. On the other chair sat a green haired boy in purple. He was leaning in toward her, shockingly close. I could see that they were kissing.

I swallowed, but my mouth was too dry. Blinking, I noticed that the girl could have been my twin. Blinking again, I noticed that the green haired boy was Drew.

Then, Drew pulled away gasping and looked to the door. Blaziken shrunk back a little behind me. He knew that face. I thought I did.

The girl that looked like me merely giggled. "Who is that, Drew?" She sounded like me too.

Drew looked back and forth between me and the other girl so fast that his head looked like a top.

"Drew...?" I mumbled, cautiously. I didn't think my brain was working correctly. I should have been mad, but I was too confused.

Drew's head stopped swerving and he rubbed his eyes. "_What is this_?"

Then, Blaziken growled deep in his throat. "Ken! Blakizen!"

The other girl looked slightly alarmed. "Uh, it's _nothing,_ Drew."

He looked flabbergasted. "Do you see that over there, May? I think I'm seeing things. I see you and your Blaziken. But you're there..." He pointed at me. His voice was quavering.

"It's nothing," the other girl said, "_Nothing's _going on. You're probably just tired."

Blaziken sprang out from behind me and yanked Drew out of his seat, shouting "Blaziken!"

Drew fell to the ground, out of Blaziken's grip and gazed up at me warily. "Am I _dead_?"

I could have laughed hysterically out of exasperation. "Funny you should ask that, 'cause I feel like I just died."

"So, am I?" His eyes were wide with fear.

"No," I answered simply. "But she can explain it, I'm sure." I pointed over at the other girl, who looked a little terrified. "..._she_ can."

"Uh, no. She's an impostor. I'm May, you know that, don't you?" she cooed at Drew. It made me irrationally angry.

Drew held his pale face in his hands. "I don't know what's going on..."

Then, I suddenly got a bright idea. "Drew, ask a question that only the real May would know. Some...inside joke or something..."

Drew paused for a moment, thinking hard on his feet. "...Imitate...Harley."

I smiled widely as I saw the other girl look lost and confused. I used every last bit of my adrenaline as I screeched, "I'm A VEGETARIAN, geez louise! Drew, if you eat meat all day, you're going to get fat like...like..._FAT_ PEOPLE!"

I saw Drew stare in awe at me for a second, and then turn to glare at the other girl. "Who are you?" he hissed.

She frowned. "I guess I've been found out." Then she removed the bandanna and...yanked off her hair? "It's a wig," she explained. underneath, her hair was shiny black. "They call me the Copycat. I like to imitate people. It's a hobby of mine. I would have gotten away with it had I known who _Harley_ was..." She looked down, away from everyone else's eyes.

I was too dumbstruck to be upset so I just turned to Drew and said, "I don't know what just happened, but let's get out of here before stuff turns _weirder_..."

He nodded, looking freaked out as well. And with that, we left the house. I was in the front, thinking of ways to scold my boyfriend, Drew muttering to himself and sounding very much like a psychopath, and Blaziken bringing up the rear and skipping along happily. All was well, sort of. Except that we had other matters to deal with now.


	17. Chapter 16

"You seriously thought that was _me_?" I shouted at Drew, incredulously. He looked satisfactorily ashamed of himself.

"Well...I..."

"_Seriously_?" I screeched. I wasn't going to get over this anytime soon.

"Look, May..." he started.

"No! I will _not_ look!" I cut across him, "How can you honestly think I'd forgive you right away for this?"

"But..."

"No 'but's'!" Gee, I was sounding like mom. "Look what you've done, Drew! You ran away, blaming _me_ for all your problems. You never came back and I looked for you because_ I LOVE YOU_. And then what did I get? You _cheated_ on me as well! And after all that, you think it's just fine to forget all of that and move on right away. _YOU THINK I SHOULD TOO_!"

Drew was taken completely aback. Almost slightly scared.

My throat felt ragged and my face must have been bright red. I didn't care though, I just wanted to see him hurt. If he was hurt by that, thn he'd have a small taste of the pain I was going through.

"May, don't think I don't feel worse about this than you do..."

"Are you _joking_?" I was laughing like a maniac now. "Do you think that you felt more pain than I did? Was your heart broken when you kissed the Copycat? Did you spend every day and night looking for me like I did for you? Drew, are you trying to act _dumb_, because you're doing a great job of it!"

Drew's eyes were starting to tear up. I whole new wave of satisfaction shot through me.

"May..." His voice was weak.

"No, Drew. There's nothing you can do for it. You've blown it," I spat through my teeth.

"Please, please, May. I love you. It was a mistake..."

"No it wasn't. You knew what you were doing when you left me. You knew perfectly well."

"I wasn't in my right state of mind..."

"Stop it, Drew. This isn't court. I'm not listening to your stupid excuses."

He was crying now, and pleading almost from his knees. I reveled at it. But, yet, at the same time, felt disgusted at myself. What was to be gained from his pain? Revenge? What did it do for me? Absolutely nothing. What was wrong with me? This was a boy that I loved.

"May, you don't understand..."

I sighed. "Drew. I'm sorry. I love you, but you've hurt me pretty badly. I'm not going to recover from this too easily." I was turning into as much of a wreck as he was.

He turned to face me, his cheeks stained with tears. "What's happened to us in the past week?" he asked.

"Everything," I answered simply.

"How can this happen to us? We _were_ happy. Everything was going fine. And then...all of this..." He shook his head.

"It's because we're strong enough to deal with it," I said, "We're good people and we can handle the horrors of the world."

He smiled slightly. "All at once? If we get through this, it'll be a miracle."

"Fate does some pretty crazy shit sometimes," I said, remembering those words from before.

"You can say that again..." Drew said, smiling wider and flipping his hair out of his bloodshot eyes.

"Fate does some pretty crazy shit sometimes," I repeated, finally breaking into a grin.

Now we were looking at each other like it was the first time in years. Like long-lost siblings.

"Does this mean we're good now?" Drew inquired, cautiously. He braced himself.

I thought about it. "On one condition."

He looked outraged. "What?"

I hoped my face wouldn't give it away. "Kiss me first."

I saw his face light up as he flipped his hair once more and went in for the kill.


	18. Chapter 17

A/N: I have been getting a couple reviews and messages warning me of the dangers of OOC-ness of Drew...and really all of the characters. I need to address that, and, really, I should have addressed this earlier. This story, "Silver Wind", was written last year during my spring break out of utter boredom. I was a less experienced fanfic writer back then and I saw the characters in my head as different form the ones on the anime. Not to mention May and Drew are five years old in this fic than in the anime. This is all honesty was my first fanfiction ever. Because of this, I don't think I'm going to change it much. I've only edited some grammar and spelling errors. In contestshippy fanfics currently in progress such as "Wonders", the sequel to this which I am considering, and other future stories, you will be able to tell the difference in the maturity of the writing. I apologize for any inconveniences.

Thank you.

-SF

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon anime, games, manga...etc. I just like writing about the characters, especially Harley.

I regret to inform you that this is the last chapter of "Silver Wind". With a possibly epilogue to tie up loose ends.

* * *

I remembered Sabrina's words randomly as I was walking to the hospital with Drew. She said something about a green haired boy being in town and was right about that. She correctly guessed Drew's name. What was the third thing?

Drew was looking at the ground at his swiftly moving feet. "Do you think things are ever going to be normal again?"

I bit my lip, but then spoke, "I don't know Drew. Define _'normal' _first."

Drew caught on. "You're right. I forgot we had Harley in tow."

He made me remember something.

_"The tall man, he's leaving the pink girl..."_

_Harley._ Harley was leaving Solidad. We had to hurry.

I took off running suddenly, too lost in my own desperation to explain it to Drew. He looked up and sprinted after me. "May...May! Wait up!"

I ignored him and scurried as fast as my legs would carry me. The hospital was only two blocks away...if I could only stop Harley right on time.

"May! Hold on May!" Drew puffed, from behind me. I didn't turn my head.

Two blocks turned into one, and soon enough, I skidded in front of the hospital's large front entrance. Cars were parked on the curb and I became slightly distracted. What kind of car hit Solidad? Was it parked here? I racked my brains but found I couldn't remember anything but Solidad's scream and Drew's panicked expression.

The thought flew out of my mind as I the front doors opened and out came Harley, fists clenched, hat slightly askew.

"Harley!" I exclaimed in relief.

He snubbed his nose at me. "What do you want?"

"Where are you going?" I asked, point-blank.

"That's my business and _not_ yours," he snapped and tried to walk on.

I blocked him. "You can't leave us. Not with Solidad like this."

Harley looked at me with a surprised expression on his face. Then, he looked like he was going to hit me. Would I fall before an oncoming car that was Solidad did just a week earlier?

Luckily, Drew caught up, breathing heavily. He bent over slightly, clutching his stomach, recovered, and then stated, "I really need to start working out."

Harley and I just looked at him. I didn't know what my expression was at the time.

It was silent for a while, and out of the corners of our eyes, we glanced at one another shiftily.

Then, the dam broke. We were laughing maniacally. I was chuckling so hard, my sides hurt. Harley was shrieking and slapping his knee. Drew was giggling uncontrollably.

Wiping my eyes, I looked at the two of them and said something that needed to be said a long time ago. "Truce? Between all of us?"

Drew and Harley stopped laughing and looked at each other defensively. But then a miracle happened.

Harley shrugged and Drew flipped his hair. I stepped in towards the two of them and we all grasped hands.

"No more fighting?" Drew suggested.

"If we can resist, " I corrected him.

"I can make a truce, but if Drew imitates me one more time..." Harley let go of our hands for just a moment to make a violent motion in the air. Then his soft hands reclasped ours.

"Are we dysfunctional or what?" said Solidad, joining our circle. Harley hesitantly held on to her stump and Drew, her other hand. She stared across the circle at me. "How could I ever repay you May? You've kept us all together. You're like superglue."

"It wasn't easy," I admitted, "But I guess I do love all of you." I smirked. "Even _you_ too, Harley."

Harley opened his mouth in protest, but Drew beat him to it. "You're amazing." He squeezed my hand delicately.

"Hey now. Get a room, kiddos!" Harley said, obnoxiously, finally getting a chance to speak again.

"We can do this guys. We can stay together. No more madness," Solidad said, looking around at all of us.

Drew piped in, "I'm going to beat the Indigo Plateau."

"I'm going to become the best male coordinator ever," Harley said.

"What about you May?" Solidad inquired, gently.

"I don't know yet..." I said, thinking intently, "But I'll let you know when I find out."

"And when will that be?" Drew wondered.

"Hopefully, before I get old."

"Like Harley?"

"_Drew_!"

...And for now, things were back to normal. If you could call it that. Unfortunately, one small road still lied out on the bright horizon. It was still there. It was still wide open with billions of possibilities that even Sabrina couldn't list. But now, the road to fulfilling my dreams was less menacing.

With Harley, Solidad, and Drew standing behind me with all their encouragement, or lack thereof, things could go wrong, but there would always be a a sunny day after. There may be some rainy days, but I can use silver wind to guide me through the darkness.


End file.
